The Top 5 Quotes from Doug Meacham’s Post-Kansas News Conference

LAWRENCE, Kansas — Doug Meacham went into a stadium he used to coach at and kept the Pokes competitive … for a half.

Oklahoma State fell to Kansas 38-21 on Saturday at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Here are five things Meacham said after the game. You can watch his full news conference below.

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1. Where the Game Changed

The Cowboys were on the Kansas 2-yard line late in the first half but didn’t manage to put any more points on the board before heading into the locker room.

OSU had first-and-goal from the 3-yard line before inching forward for a yard. An incompletion and a 0-yard gain later, and the Cowboys ran Logan Ward out for a would-be game-tying field goal. The 19-yard attempt was blocked.

“Everything was going as planned in the first half,” Meacham said. “I think if you had to pinpoint a moment, it would be when we had the field goal blocked right before half. Could’ve went in with some momentum right there, and it may have been a different game.

“It’s just that fine a line. It’s just that close, that fine of a line. If we punch in a touchdown there and go ahead right before half or we make a field goal and tie the thing up at half, could’ve changed the outcome of the whole game. What we have to do a better job of is when things don’t occur the way we want them to, we have to put it to bed, and we have to go stack good plays. We have to stack good plays. We were a little inconsistent there.”

2. On Zane’s Best Game

Just about any way you look at it, this was Zane Flores’ best college game.

The third-year freshman completed 79% of his passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns — all career-highs. Flores didn’t throw a true incompletion until the fourth quarter, as his first three passes that hit the ground were throwaways. He completed 13 of his first 14 attempts.

“He had a good day,” Meacham said. “He was precise with the ball. I think at one point he was, like 19-of-22 or something like that. A couple TD throws, no picks. A couple things you wish he would’ve done a little better, but when you’ve got the ball in your hand every play, you’re gonna have things you can pick apart. He played solid. Did a good job. Receivers competed and did a good job. Maybe some of the protection could’ve held up a little bit better at times, but I think he did a good job.”

3. On Terrill Davis Getting Going

Terrill Davis caught 109 passes at UCO last season, but entering Saturday, he hadn’t caught a pass in three games.

Davis caught five balls for 78 yards against the Jayhawks, both Division-I-highs. He had a beautiful grab late over the top of a defender on a go-ball. The play was flagged for defensive pass interference, but Davis still brought it down.

“He came from a school where he caught 116 passes,” Meacham said. “He’s kind of used to catching 8, 10, 15 balls a game and that’s not really where we are right now. He comes in here. He blocks. He battles. He comes to practice. He’s not getting the ball near like what he’s used to, primarily. And as a receiver, a lot of times you could react in a negative way. He’s the consummate teammate. Consummate great kid. He should be the first guy complaining, and he’s not. Comes out and works hard every day.

“He’s just a great kid and made a few plays. How many balls did you have today? Three, four? (Five) Great play there at the end on the fade. Battled. You can’t say enough good things about him. He just battles.”

4. On Sam Jackson’s Move Back to WR

Sam Jackson started his college career as a quarterback before switching to receiver. Then he moved back to quarterback before going back to receiver this week. Keeping up?

With Flores being in his first game back after suffering an injury against Arizona, that made way for Jackson to move back to the position he came to OSU to play. In his first game in some time as solely a wideout, Jackson caught two passes, including a sliding snag for a gain up 26.

“It’s a lot harder to go from receiver to quarterback than quarterback to wideout, I can promise you that,” Meacham said. “He’s just a super-versatile player. He had a really good catch on that little deep ball down the middle. He adjusted really well to it, slid and kind of caught it at a weird angle and made a really good play. He had a good game.”

5. Meacham Wasn’t Stoked about a Late Corner Blitz

When the game was in-hand for the Jayhawks, Lawrence High alum Banks Bowen got some run at quarterback for Oklahoma State.

He led a touchdown drive, but he also got clobbered on that drive. Bowen didn’t see a corner blitz coming and got smoked. He dropped the football, and Kansas recovered.

However, the play went to review. Syeed Gibbs, who delivered the hit, was tossed for targeting.

With the Cowboys already trailing 38-14 late in the fourth quarter, Meacham wasn’t stoked about the corner blitz on a freshman quarterback.

“He had a corner fire against your twos with the time running out, up 24. Way to go,” Meacham said. “I hope you really needed that corner. That’s what I want to say. I hope you really needed him.

“But really excited for him and his dad. Kind of a dream for him to come back here and play where he’s from, on this field, and everybody, his whole family tree’s out here watching. I thought he was gonna run one in there. I told him, I said, ‘In high school, you would have just went right in. It’s a little different speed now.’ But pleased with him and glad he got that opportunity to go out there and play a little bit. I thought that was great.”